peter@aucs.UUCP (Peter Steele) (12/20/87)
I've just received my new Hi-Top Full Page Display and I have a few
questions to anyone who owns some sort of FPD. The Hi-Top most closely
resembles the Radius FPD, having a resolution of 720 by 900 max, and
can display at either 72 or 90 dpi. The extra screen space is absolutely
fantastic, but:
1. The Hi-Top when turned on causes the Mac screen to jump and jitter. I've
seen similar effects when a Mac sits close to a PC. Do other FPD owners
have similar symptoms with their setup. Please include the brand name
of your FPD and its price.
2. The Hi-Top monitor itself is not as steady as I'd like to see it. It
doesn't jitter like the Mac screen does, but there's a peculiar wash/
wave effect over the entire screen, almost as if it's alive. I've seen
other FPDs at computer shows and although I never got right up and
studied the screen closely, I seem to recall the screens were rock
solid and sharp. Can anyone comment?
3. The Hi-Top almost seems a little blurry and out of focus in the middle
of the screen. Is this typical of FPDs or is this poor design in the
Hi-Top.
4. The Hi-Top utilizes a very persistant phosphor, causing considerable
ghosting. This isn't so bad since most pixels on a screen are on, but
if I'm in fat-bits for example where there's a lot of black, the ghosts
reveil themselves more frequently. Its especially apparent when I turn
the FPD off--the shutdown dialog lingers for some time on the screen
(even longer when I turn the lights off). Do other FPD owners have
this problem with their screen?
5. I've noticed that after the screen heats up, the characters in the
menu bar are sort of bent (distorted). Anyone have similar problems?
6. I've noticed that when I use Word, the line I'm typing in flickers
each time I type a character. I've tried MacWrite and MockWrite and
they do not flicker like this. Is this a problem with Word and FPDs
or is this a problem with the Hi-Top?
7. I use my Mac to prepare tutorials on various Mac software and make
frequent use of screen dumps to paste into my documents. While cmd-
shift-4 does seem to work (it dumps the entire 720x900 screen to the
printer, cmd-shift-3 (which I need) crashes. The Camera DA works
better, but not perfect. It attempts to create a screen dump of
the upper left corner of the screen that corresponds to where a
normal Mac screen would appear. Unfortunately, it only gets about
three-quarters of the vertical height, so I'm not able to get a full
dump of the screen to paste into my documents. I need to have this
capability. Is this a problem with all FPDs or some Hi-Top problem?
8. I know that other FPDs have the dual density capability. What are the
limitations in using the two densities. My documentation says that
while at the Finder, the screen can only display at 90dpi, whereas
in an application, it can display at 72 or 90. Unfortunately, my
display software does not yet support the dual density (registered
owners are supposed to get an upgrade before the end of December
which will support the dual density capability of the monitor) so
I can't test how it works. What happens when you're editing and you
switch for example from 90 dpi to 72 dpi?
9. The control panel that comes with the Hi-Top allows you to configure
the Mac as either being on the left or right of the Hi-Top. I've
seen other FPDs that allow this configuration and will also allow
you to configure it as just the FPD alone or just the Mac alone
(effectively turning off the FPD). Would other FPD owners care to
comment?
That's it. Sorry this is so long but I just had a lot of questions.
Incidentally, I paid $995 for the Hi-Top, but as of Dec 1, it costs
$1395. (I bought mine on Nov 30!) The company that sells it is
Network Specialties, although the monitor is made by Xerox. I believe
I've seen the exact same monitor sold by another company.
I would really appreciate other FPD owners/users mailing/posting their
comments. I have a 30 day period that I can try the monitor out and
return it if I'm not satisfied. If I can't solve some of these problems,
I may have to do just that (sob!).
--
Peter Steele Acadia Univ. Wolfville NS Canada B0P1X0 (902)542-2201x121
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